Book 1:Nightmare Rising
by Shadowed Skull
Summary: Amongst the Land of the Dead there were two types of ponies, Skele-ponies and Soul-ponies, then there was Shadow Skull. But when Shadow gets invited to a prestigious party and destiny comes knocking, his whole world will come down. Follow the adventures of Shadow Skull as he traverses the land of the dead and the living searching for the Elements of Harmony and Disharmony!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, just like to say before you start reading that this is my first legitimate story of a series I plan on continuing for a long while. I also apologize if this seems below par for stories, as I said this is my first. If you feel like giving any reviews/criticism it would be much appreciated, or if you have any ideas, since I'm not quite sure how long I plan on keeping this story going. That being said, enjoy!  
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All was peaceful in the Land of the Dead, the Blue Sun was shining to the East, as the Red Moon was shimmering to the West. A young undead pony named Shadow Skull was enjoying some time to think about his current take on the after-life while sitting on a mound of bones he found on the outskirts of the City of the Dead. The Land of the Dead however, was not at peace, as there were two types of the undead, the Skele-ponies, who were all Pegasi and Earth ponies as well as making the majority noble class; and the Soul-ponies who were either Unicorns or Alicorns like the Queen, though she was the only one in the Land of the Dead. The Skele-ponies were stuck in the form of their skeletons while Soul-ponies had no physical form but looked like they did in life, their soul emitting light from the core of their spectral body. Then there was Shadow Skull, not really fitting into either of these, since he had both bones and a soul, though his bones were a dark black instead of the bleached white of normal Skele-ponies, and his soul emitted a green light that looked more like fire, whereas the Soul-ponies glowed a light purple.**  
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Given his strange appearance, most Skele-ponies ignored him as if he didn't exist, never wanting to play or do things with him. This didn't bother him though, he preferred Soul-ponies any day as company. He always enjoyed hanging out with his friend Split Soul, a Soul-pony who could be the most entertaining and lighthearted undead pony ever, then suddenly change to the most irritable and angry. Shadow thought that was how he had gotten his name, but he didn't mind his friend's mood swings, thats what he liked about Split Soul.

Unfortunately, he couldn't always go see his friend because he lived within the Valley of the Fallen, forced there with all the other Soul-ponies. The Valley of the Fallen wasn't a place most wanted to live, seeing as how it was the entrance to the Labyrinth, a maze filled with traps designed to destroy the anypony who couldn't beat it, even if they were already dead. The Valley was where monuments and gravestones were placed in memory of those who entered the vile domain. Any of the ponies in the Land of the Dead could try their luck against it, the reward being reincarnation back into life. There was even a story of a Soul-pony named Soul-Shield who had supposedly made it to the end of the Labyrinth, only to go insane by the time he reached it, some ponies even claim to hear a disturbing laughter from the Labyrinth every so often, when most would be asleep.

'Well, time to start heading back' Shadow thought to himself 'Mom and Dad are probably worrying their skulls off, that is if they aren't meeting with the Queen'. It should be know that, while Shadow had no interest in politics, his parents were two of the Queen's five personal advisers, which made up what was called the Counsel. Jumping down from the bone mound, he started the long trek back to his home, unaware that somepony was, and had been, watching him the entire time.

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"Finally, that was a bit farther from the City than I originally thought" said Shadow to himself as he walked under the large portcullis that marked then entrance to the City of the Dead. Though his hope for a quite return was destroyed when he heard somepony yelling.

"HEY, HEY SHADOW!" came a loud voice from nearby, turning his skull, Shadow saw his friend Split Soul galloping towards him, a goofy grin plastered across his face. "Hey Split, how's it going?" asked Shadow, wondering how his friend always seemed to know where he would be, "Pretty good, I was gonna try and mess with some of those snooty Skele-ponies in the market place, wanna join?" inquired the small Soul-pony. "Sorry Split, I need to get home, my parents are probably wondering where I'm at about now." answered Shadow. "Okay then, see ya later!" yelled Split Soul as he galloped off towards the market place, that grin still spread across his face. 'I will never understand him' thought Shadow to himself, turning back onto his path home.

As Shadow continued his walk home, an uneasy feeling crept it's way into his bones. Shadow felt as if somepony was watching him specifically, out of all of the undead ponies walking the street, and it unnerved him to his core. Hoping to lose his unwanted observer, Shadow decided to take a short-cut between some buildings. As he entered the ally, a bright started building up in the middle of the dim side-street and suddenly, after a blinding flash of white light, there stood a Keeper, one of the Queen's personal guards, dead center in front of him. After quickly getting his bearings, the Keeper said in a tone fitting a Queen's guard "Shadow Skull, by request of the Queen, I am to escort you to the palace for the Saeculum Parentalis to take place this following evening." Shadow was genuinely surprised at this, he hadn't expected to be invited to the centennial festival of the dead. Still feeling as if he was being watched, Shadow thought this would be the perfect way to loose his unseen stalker "I will happily oblige, sir" he answered with a bow of his head.

Shadow soon found himself teleported into the main palace courtyard, right in front of the main gate. The guards stationed at the entrance opened the large door with magic, allowing him to enter as it slowly slid shut behind him, scraping against the tiled floor of the palace hall. The main hall which Shadow now entered was packed with the high-ranking families of the afterlife, all discussing politics or small, meaningless gossip. He quickly saw his parents at the top of the stairs, his father and mother standing next to the Queen and her three other advisers. As soon as Shadow trotted up the stairs, his parents immediately diverted their attention from whatever it was the Queen and other advisers were arguing about in hushed tones.

"Hello sweetie, how was your day?" inquired his mom, her soft voice reminding Shadow Skull of some sort of angel. "It was fine, like always mom." replied Shadow, smiling slightly. Turning to face the Queen he said "Thank you for inviting me your majesty, but I'm a little puzzled at why you would want me here" "I thought that you might like to see what it is your parents actually do." replied the Queen in a warm and gentle voice, something you wouldn't expect from the Queen of the Dead. This time addressing the rest of the guests, she said "Mares and gentle-colts, it is time we proceeded to the Ball Room to start this wondrous night.". As Shadow started to head for the Ball Room, his parents called him back. "We don't actually participate in the festivities, Shadow" explained his father "While all the other families are dancing, we discuss matters of state, this is one of the few nights we can do so without interruptions, allowing at least some things to get done relatively quickly."

"Then why am I here?" asked Shadow. "Because we wanted you to see what we actually do, just like the Queen said" his father replied "Though I'm starting to sense that you aren't quite concerned with what we do" he added, seeing his son's head droop a little, "So why don't you go and wait in the Queen's private courtyard while your mother and I... discuss issues with the others." his father said the last few words with a look of disdain towards the other advisers

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***BANG***

Was what Shadow heard from the courtyard as another hoof was slammed down for about the twentieth time that afternoon. Shadow had been sitting out here for who knows how long, thinking about what they could be talking about that would cause so many loud noises and raised voices.

As he had been sitting, Shadow noticed there seemed to be a few Keepers coming and going through the area apparently patrolling the courtyard. He didn't think anything of it, not even when some stopped to whisper to each other did he get any sort of anxiety. Though as the number of Keepers grew, Shadow couldn't help but glace back at them, only to quickly look away when he saw them throwing their own glances at him. Starting to get a little nervous Shadow got up off his haunches and started to trot inside, only to get blocked at the entrance by another Keeper. Quickly apologizing to the Keeper, Shadow tried to inch his way around the Soul-pony, only for the Keeper to start moving forward, pushing Shadow back up into the courtyard.

Now Shadow was starting to get nervous, the Keepers' behavior was wrong. 'They're supposed to keep the Queen safe in case of usurpers.' thought Shadow 'Surely they can't think I'm a danger to the Queen, can they?'. "Umm excuse me, sir, is everything all right?" he asked aloud to the guards, who had now formed a semi-circular formation around him. One, who appeared to be in charge took a step forward, "No, by order of the Triumvirate, the new rulers of the Land, you have been sentenced to annihilation".

Shadow couldn't help but feel both confused and terrified. He had never heard of this "Triumvirate", and he was sure he had never done anything to make somepony want to obliterate him indefinitely, at least not intentionally.

As Shadow was pondering what this meant, the Keepers' horns had started to glow, enough magic building up to end his very existence. AS the hum of the growing amount of magic snapped Shadow out of his thoughts. He could see that all the Keepers' horns radiating massive amounts of magic, enough to completely annihilate him as he already knew. turning his attention from the the Keepers, Shadow started looking for a way out. Shoving past the guards as they kept building their magic for a while longer, he galloped to the door, only to fall flat on his rump as they didnt so much as budge. He then started to frantically search for something that could let him in, a window, a hole, anything! Only to find no escape route.

Sighing in defeat, Shadow turned to face his executioners. The dozen guards all smirking at his attempts to try and escape simply made Shadow feel even worse. He then did the only thing he could do, lay down and wait.

"Hey now, that seems a bit unfair doesn't it?" came a loud gruff voice from behind the now startled guards. All pairs of eyes, including Shadow's, now rested upon the interloper, or rather, interlopers. For there stood two ponies, extremely strange looking. The first was a Soul-pony, the only noticeable thing about him was his his cutie mark, it was a shield surrounded by what looked like fog. The other pony was by far the more puzzling of the two, probably because he had no cutie mark, instead, there was a large orange-glowing hole in the center of his chest. And for some reason the strange, corpse-like stallion was wearing the shredded remains of a tuxedo coat and a pristine top hat, a cane was floating to the side, seemingly of its own will.

The Keepers, who had not planned for something like this, were dumbstruck as to what to do. The one who spoke to Shadow earlier now addressed the two ponies, "You two, leave now, you are interfering in a royal decree!" he shouted, rather unsure of himself. "Really? So a royal decree has sentenced a poor innocent pony to annihilated?" retorted the Soul-pony, he voice laced with disdain. "Wicked, you mind?" the Soul-pony asked his friend, "With pleasure." he replied, with a strange accent. the undead pony named Wicked slowly stepped up to the dozen guards and, in a matter of seconds, rendered them all unconscious.

Placing his top hat in the center of the courtyard, the pony Wicked stepped back, only for his hat to grow roughly five times its original size. The Soul-pony with the strange cutie mark slowly trotted up to the startled Shadow Skull. "Now that they've been dealt with, I'd say introductions are in order." said the Soul-pony. "My associate here" to which he pointed a hoof towards the walking corpse who in turned bowed gracefully "is Wicked K. and you may call me Soul Shield".

That last part did it for Shadow, hearing the name from the stories that kept ponies from the Labyrinth set him shaking. He was now, undoubtedly scared for his very soul.

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**Well now there's a twist. What will Soul Shield and Wicked K. do with Shadow Skull****? Who is the Triumvirate? Who knows! You're just gonna have to wait and find out! **

**Hello once more everyone, sorry if the first chapter seemed a bit long, my original Chapter 1 seemed extremely short, so I decided to add my original Chapter 2 as well. For those of you who are familiar with the Darksiders games, I'm sure you remember Wicked K. so I am not taking credit for him, just his pony form. This and the next chapter are set-up chapters, to give a good background for the future. Enjoy the afterlife! Oh, and any words that seem extremely weird are probably in Latin.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings once more, I really hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and will with this one. L****ike I said in chapter 1, this is the final set-up chapter. And I'm sure you can guess at will come next. Now, let's answer some of those pesky questions from last time shall we?**

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Shadow just stood there, terrified, his bones rattling more than he thought possible. He just couldn't believe it, the nightmare of so many undead ponies was now right in front of him, introducing himself. There were moments like these that Shadow was really glad he was dead, because if he wasn't, he was sure his heart would stop.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself or not?" asked Soul Shield, snapping Shadow out of his stupor of fear. "I.. I'm Sha...Shadow Sk..Skull" he replied, still in shock. Soul Shield eyed the shaking stallion carefully before continuing, "Good, you can speak. Now, we need to leave before any more of those stupid guards come around, okay?". Shadow nodded his reply, not trusting his speech yet. "Okay, now to get out of here quickly, you're going to have to trust us, jump into the hat.", Shadow had no idea what that would accomplish, it looked barely big enough to hold one of them, let alone all three. But his fear for his life made him swallow his fear of these two, so he did as he was told and jumped in.

After Shadow had jumped through, there was a loud banging from the palace doors leading to the courtyard. Soul Shield quickly jumped in after Shadow, which was immediately followed by the doors being burst open, several more Keepers galloping past them. All of which stopped when they saw the corpse-pony standing in front of a giant top hat, with a semi-circle of unconscious guards around him. Wicked K looked at the standing guardsmen and then to the ones on the ground, and then to the ones standing once more. At which point he bowed regally, shouting "Good day!" before laughing manically and back flipping into his top hat, which then levitated about an inch of the ground and shrank away into nothingness, leaving the Keepers standing there wondering what the hay had just happened.

_ **A few moments later _**

"ompf" that was what escaped Shadow's mouth as he slammed into the ground unceremoniously. He rubbed his aching skull with his hoof for a second untill Soul Shield lept out of the hat, and Wicked K, who came back flipping out of it. "Well, glad that's over." stated Soul Shield bluntly, turning to Shadow, he asked "Are you still afraid of us? Because if so, this whole ordeal is going to be that much harder for us to help you with." Shadow, who had finally regained his composure, replied "Y...yes, it was just a little, terrifying to come face to face with somepony that has scary stories based off of them." "Sometimes, young Shadow Skull, lies are better than the truth to achieve something." the old Soul-pony said, a mixed look of despair and rage, set deep in his ghostly eyes.

Shadow took a quick look around the room, noticing the size of the room and the murals carved into the walls, along with a slightly raised platform towards the back. "Where am I?" Shadow thought aloud, "You're standing within the end of the Labyrinth, the Chamber of Rebirth. Though it does more than that, this room gets bigger as time continues on, this world's history recorded on the walls as they appear. Even I don't know how it's done and I've been living here for years." said Soul Shield, walking up behind Shadow. "And that platform over at the far end is where ponies are supposed to be reborn" he added, pointing to a round platform, floating about an inch off the ground.

Getting Shadow's attention, Soul Shield started again "But none of that matters at the moment. Right now, all that matters is what I'm about to tell you. You are not really part of the Skull family, I don't know what you did, how you did it, or why it hasn't effected me or Wicked, but you didn't exist here till a few months ago. Four months ago, you simply came out of no where as the Skulls' child, and everypony else seems to have memories of you going back much longer, but Wicked and I have none, nor had we even heard of you till then.". Shadow simply looked at the old Soul-pony with disbelief, thinking he had lost his mind like the stories said. "You're crazy. Of course I've been here longer than a few months, I remember stuff that happened from the day I came here." he retorted. "Really, then tell me exactly what happened that day then. Tell me what happened and I'll believe you." Soul Shield responded, rather agitated. "Well, I uh... I.I met Split Soul. Yeah! That's when I met him!" but Shadow had trouble remembering even this small event, everything seemed hazy, a little unreal, and it made Shadow slightly worried. "Ok then, how did you meet him then?" Soul Shield pressed on determined to know. "I.I uh..mmm...I met him when..hmmm" try as hard as he could, Shadow couldn't remember how they met, and it struck him hard. And when he tried remembering anything else that had happened further than a few months back, he couldn't it was as if what Soul Shield had said was true, he simply hadn't existed before then.

At this realization, Shadow whole body slumped, his head all but touching the stone floor. He wished he could cry at this, he felt as if his whole life was a lie, everything he knew, all his friends, his family, just some sort of cruel illusion. He wished he had been killed by those Keepers in the courtyard, rather than know this; he'd rather die forever as a happy pony who had friends and family that would miss him, not some twisted lie.

Sensing there was going to a lot of emotion, Wicked K decided it would be best and go and check on the Soul-ponies and the surrounding area, leaving the two to talk in peace.

"Hey now, I know this must hurt.." Soul Shield started to continue, putting a ghostly hoof on his shoulder, only to be rudely interrupted by Shadow jumping back and turning to face him, yelling "NO! NO YOU DON'T! NEVER SAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND! I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING FROM A FEW MONTHS AGO! ALL THOSE THINGS THAT HAPPENED, ME MAKING FRIENDS, BEING LOVED, ALL OF IT RIPPED AWAY, NEVER REALLY EXISTING IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Shadow said this, ragged breaths from what would have been crying escaping his mouth, the green flames from his soul getting a raising, matching the intensity of the torches set into the walls. Shadow could feel the flames get bigger, truth be told it scared him a little, but he didn't care, he'd welcome anything that would make this pony shut up, anything that wouldn't make his soul ache.

But Soul Shield wasn't phased by this, if anything he seemed to be angered. When he spoke again, his face to the floor, Shadow could hear the unspoken fury embedded in his voice, just below the surface of the words "Don't you ever say that again." now he looked up at the undead colt standing before him, and Shadow wished he hadn't because now he could see the fury, in all it's righteousness completely visible in Soul Shield's eyes. "Do not ever say I don't know the pain of loosing everything. I lost my family my parents..my brother...my wife...MY DAUGHTER!" Soul Shield started to yell, his rage finding it's way to the surface "I LOST EVERYPONY THAT I CARED FOR, ALL BECAUSE I TRIED TO BE A HERO ONCE!" Soul Shield realized how far he was going, realized that he was going to do something he'd regret if he let his emotions take over; it took a great amount of effort, but he slowly managed to calm down.

Turning away from the frightened Shadow Skull, Soul Shield whispered, barely audible "Be glad that it wasn't real, because it would only hurt all the more if it was... Sometimes lies are better than the truth."

He turned back once again, his emotions once again in check. "But that's a story left buried. There's still more that you need to know." upon hearing this, Shadow tried to block it out with his hooves. Soul Shield continued however, thought to Shadow's relief with something other than telling him how much his life was a lie. "There is history here, so old that it was lost. In the beginning of creation, before the worlds of the living and the dead existed, there were the Elements. Honestly, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, and Magic, but it takes balance to create, there needed to be things to oppose them, so the Elements of Disharmony existed as well. Greed, Rage, Sickness, Fear, Disloyalty, and Lies; these existed alongside the Elements of Harmony, but all in one form. Both types of Elements existed as sentient beings, creating the worlds together. But when all was done, the Elements of Harmony saw what it's counterpart had created to make a balance, vile things, dark things. So the Elements of Harmony used it's power to destroy the Elements of Disharmony, but even the Elements have their limits. They couldn't completely destroy eachother, so the only thing that was accomplished was the separation and scattering of the Elements of Disharmony. It has even been told that these Elements will come back when all worlds need them.

Shadow was trying to follow what the older pony was getting at. "It is my belief that you are one of these Elements, resurrected in a time of need, which one I do not care. But what is important that you get out of the world and figure what is going on elsewhere." as Soul Shield said this he pointed to the levitating platform at the end of the room.

But at this moment there came a loud explosion, followed with clouds of dust coming from the corridor leading into the Labyrinth. Then a familiar looking top hat came whizzing into the room, growing once more to an increased size as Wicked came flying back, landing in the hat, at which point it shrank out of existence. "What in the Queen's name is going on!" shouted Soul Shield, looking at the corridor, where three black cloaked Skele-ponies emerged, followed by a dozen Keepers. "Well well well, so this is where you fled to little one." came a cold and wispy voice. The three undead ponies shook off their hoods, revealing themselves to be none other than the three other advisors.

Shadow was speechless, his mind full of questions for these ponies. But Soul Shield beat him to it, "What are you doing here?" he asked, animosity towards them evident in his voice. "My word" started the center advisor "Is that any way to talk to your new rulers?". Both Shadow and Soul Shield were stunned by this statement "What are you talking about?" said Shadow. This time it was the advisor on the left who spoke "Haven't you heard? The Queen and the Skull family have been, how should I put this...'removed' from their respective positions. Now the Triumvirate rules, that being us" he said with a wicked look on his face. "Yo..you're the ones who tried to have me killed?" a mix of surprise and fear once again in Shadow's voice. And finally the last advisor on the right spoke "Yes that was us, couldn't have anyone left that anypony would rally behind now could we. Which brings us to the current situation." at which point he faced the the group of following Keepers, and said in a flat voice "Finish them."

The Keepers immediately started firing bolts of magic at the two of them, trying to knock them unconscious first 'Guess they learned from last time' thought Soul Shield grimly, dodging and blocking any bolts that were fired at him and Shadow. He turned to Shadow and yelled "Get to the platform! They won't be able to follow us after that. Go I'll be right behind you!" Shadow needed no more encouragement, galloping off towards the other end of the chamber, his flames once again rising as he felt something building inside him. But once more he felt it die down as he reached the platform, Soul Shield jumping up onto it next to him.

As soon as Soul Shield jumped onto the platform, the chamber immediately darkened, the torches reduced to a dull glow. The platform, everypony noticed, had started to glow, a bubble of ancient magic forming around the two on top of it. "Soul Shield, what's happening?" asked Shadow, looking around him "It's doing what it was meant to" Soul Shield replied, a smile on his face "It's going to send you to the world of the living, and I'm going to help you get there." "What are you talking about?!" Shadow turned to the old Soul-pony, who replied "It takes two to make this work, you had to be one, I the other. I will be sacrificed, something I'd gladly do if it means you'll make it out. Now clam down, even though you may not realize it, I'll still be there with you, just not the way either of us might like."

That was the last thing Shadow heard before he blinked out of the chamber, magic enveloping him and shooting him upwards, a giant beam visible for leagues in any direction. The platform they were standing on crashed to the ground, it's magic used and drained for it's only purpose, but on it's face there was a new mural: two ponies stood strong, surrounded by evil looking ponies firing magic at them as three cloaked Skele-ponies raged behind the line as the two were whisked away by ancient magic.

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**The world of the living awaits. What will happen there? Will ponies accept him as he is? And what will become of Soul Shield? **

**You'll just have to keep reading to find out!**

**Hey everypony, just thought I'd say thanks for reading this far even if it is only the second chapter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully I can get more explanations done in Chapter 3 when Shadow comes to the world of the living. Enjoy the afterlife!  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Good day all, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. But Shadow's time in the afterlife as come to a end. After the events in the last chapter Shadow is in for a big change of, well, everything. Let's find out if we're left with more questions or not!**

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_Lights...swirling lights of every color, endless rainbows. Falling...falling forever through the endless vortex of light. Silence...the all consuming silence never broken, screams of pain never making a sound. Pain... terrible pain, bones molding, becoming thick solid legs instead of fragile bones, rib cage spreading and hardening, forming a solid barrier around his middle as his flank bones grew flatter and more solid. Growth... something growing inside this new body, his soul hardening into a crystal. Soul Shield...the strange old Soul-pony falling with him, something different happening to him, turning into a harness of bone, his spirit refining into a gem with a blue swirling mist inside and settling in the center. Fire...the flames from his soul turning a deep blue, his tail a mix of green and blue. Then blackness...all consciousness lost from the pain._

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It was the middle of the night, ponies across Equestria were sleeping the night away, safe-guarded by their Princess of the Night. But not all could share that claim. Princess Celestia woke suddenly, a dark chill running down her spin, yet also a warmth accompanied it, like that of meeting an old friend after long years. The princess' train of thought was suddenly interrupted as her sister barged into the room. "Sister! Are thou all right?" asked Luna, worried for her sister "I'm fine Luna, though something has happened, something involving ancient magic." Celestia answered calmly. "We are glad, we feared something had happened to our sister." Luna said, her face full of relief, which suddenly turned to fearful curiosity. "If you did nothing, then what could have happened to cause us to feel so strangely?" "I don't know sister, I really don't know..." Celestia's voice trailed off at the end, lost in thought once more.

_ **Later** _

'Another beautiful morning' thought a certain yellow-colored pegasus, looking to see the orange glow of sunrise through her window. 'Time to let all my friends out' Fluttershy thought to herself, softly getting out of bed and trotting down her wooden stairs. Looking around her living room, she noticed all her animal friends were huddled in their dens, shaking with fright as she opened the door to let them out. "That's strange, they've never done that before." she thought aloud, "Come one everyone, you need to go and stretch your muscles... come... please?" she asked, trying to gently coax them out. But still the animals refused to budge, Fluttershy looked outside again trying to see if there was anything that could have them all scared. That's when she walked out and looked at the sky, only to see the moon was still high in the sky. "But if the moon is still there, then what's tha..." that's when Fluttershy realized that is wasn't the sunrise she saw, THE MEADOW WAS ON FIRE! "oh no...oh no oh no oh no oh no" she said repeatedly rushing out her door towards the fire, galloping to see if any animals where trapped.

Galloping through the fire, Fluttershy couldn't help but cough and look around as she searched for any animals trapped in the inferno. Thankfully finding none on the outer edges, she headed in deeper, reaching a circular clearing of short grass. Fluttershy gasped in horror at what she saw, in the center of the clearing was what looked like the charred remains of a pony, fire surrounding it except for a small part that was already burned to ash. Squeezing onto the thin black path, Fluttershy made her way to the corpse, feeling as if she was going to be sick the entire way. When she finally reached it, Fluttershy was scared of what she saw. The skeleton, or what appeared to be one, had a blue glow where a mane would have been, and where a tail should have been was a swirl of the same blue and a brighter green. But what she found most frightening was that there were no eyes, only the same blue glow yet again filling both sockets, that was the last thing she saw as everything went black.

Fluttershy woke up with a start, fear gripping her heart like a vice. She looked around, surprised to be back in her own bed, in her own room. 'It was only a nightmare Fluttershy, come one' she berated herself in her head, but still she wondered "Then why did it feel so real?" she asked aloud. Wanting to make sure it was just a nightmare, Fluttershy went over to her window and looked out. There were no flames in the meadow, nothing to that could cause any alarm. She went back to sleep, still uneasy about her nightmare.

* * *

Shadow woke up slowly, his body still aching from whatever happened to him. As he got up, he looked around, fanatically hoping that what he saw happen to Soul Shield was just some sort of terrible hallucination. But as he looked around the field he was in, he saw the bone harness, the gem that contained his Soul Shield's soul resting at the collar, proudly displayed. Shadow couldn't help but feel remorse and guilt, Soul Shield sacrificed himself to get here, all for Shadow. Not being able to part with what remained of the old Soul-pony, Shadow slipped into the harness, similar to that of a large complex necklace.

Shadow recovered himself, he knew what was supposed to happen, he had to find the other Elements of Disharmony. But first though, he needed something to drink. Walking over to a nearby pond, Shadow froze at what he saw. The still water of the pond gave off a clear reflection of Shadow, who reveled at how he now looked. He could feel his soul inside him, levitating as some sort of crystal emitting the flames. His bones seemed to have melded together, forming some sort of shell around his body, where his spine used to be was now a solid neck of bone, his leg bones thickening and into strong solid legs. And his eyes no longer glowed green, instead they glowed a deep blue, the same with his mane; although his tail still had wisps of green flame amongst the blue. All in all, he thought he looked rather terrifying.

"I'm not going to get very far if everypony thinks I'm some sort of monster." Shadow thought aloud. All of a sudden, all around his body fur started growing, the same gleaming black, his flames replaced by an equally matching mane and tail, and his eyes turned into irises, though just that, no pupil or anything else. 'Not sure what just happened... but let's go with it' he thought to himself. As Shadow admired his new body once again, he remembered something, living ponies had cutie marks. He looked at his own flank, which was blank, and thought about what his cutie mark could be, only to have it appear on it's own as a flame of blue and green. "Fair enough." he shrugged.

That's when he started hearing noises, looking in the direction they came from he saw some pegasi flying around in the sky, moving clouds about at their whim. "Well if there's pegasi around here, there should also be a town of some sort" Shadow thought aloud. Shadow smiled, beside himself with a sense of relief, even though he lost so much, he was finally here. "We did it Soul Shield, we made it to the world of the living." he whispered to the gem, which seemed to glow a bit brighter.

* * *

After trotting through trees and underbrush, Shadow found himself following a dirt road which lead into a small town. At the outskirts of town, Shadow saw a pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane talking to some animals, appealingly trying to get them to eat. She looked friendly so Shadow trotted over to her "Excuse me, miss, I seem to have gotten lost. Could you tell me where I am?" he asked, trying to be as polite as he can. Letting out a squeak of fright, the yellow pegasus jumped and turned around to see him smiling at her a little awkwardly. The yellow pegasus started mumbling something inaudible, shaking in fear as she did so. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear that, I guess my hearing isn't as good as it used to be." he said, lying a little bit to make her feel better, Soul Shield's words echoing in his mind.

_ 'Sometimes lies are better than the truth.'_

Finding a bit of courage, the yellow pegasus spoke in a barely audible whisper "You..you're in P.. Ponyville." Shadow managed to hear this and nodded thoughtfully. "Ponyville." he said to himself, rolling the word around a bit "It sounds like a quiet town." suddenly remembering what he doing Shadow apologized. "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. My name is Shadow Skull, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss.." he trailed off. "Fl..Fluttershy" she responded, still seemingly whispering. "A pleasure, miss Fluttershy." Shadow restated, "Could you by chance point me in the direction of someplace where I could get a map of the town?" "Try..try the Town Ha..Hall" at this Fluttershy zipped away, faster than anypony would have thought possible towards Ponyville. "Well, off to town hall then." said Shadow, resuming his trot along the dirt road.

Soon after Shadow resumed his walk he arrived in the town called Ponyville, cheery and brightly colored, the town was the opposite of what Shadow was expecting, busy and loud compared to quiet and sleepily like he had figured. As Shadow proceeded into town he noticed everypony was giving him a wide berth, walking on the other side of the street from him and whispering about him after they passed.

'Figures. No matter where I go, be it living or dead I'm still the odd ball' Shadow thought to himself. 'Maybe it's the bone harness..." continuing his train of thought Shadow didn't even notice he had walked straight into the sign outside of the Town Hall.

"ompf" the sound once more escaping Shadow's mouth. "Well, that was real smooth Shadow" he mumbled to himself, rubbing his head. Looking at the sign he walked into he realized it was a map of the town, along with a list of jobs available. "Apple bucker wanted: 4 bits an hour, hmm…" he mused, figuring that bits are what they used for currency here, he thought this was reasonable. "Off to this Sweet Apple Acres then." looking at the map one last time for directions, he set off at a brisk trot.

Luckily, Shadow arrived at Sweet Apple Acres without running into any pony else, saving him from some unwanted attention. As he approached, he noticed it was an extremely apple orchard, a house and a barn near the entrance. Not seeing anypony in the immediate area, he went up and was about to knock on the door when he heard somepony say from behind "Howdy partner, what can I do for ya?" Shadow turned around and saw a brightly colored orange mare wearing a hat, her mane in a long braid. "Hello, my name is Shadow Skull, I'm here for the job offer." he said, bowing his head slightly, 'It always pays to make a good first impression' he thought, "Well, ya sure got some manners I'll give ya that, but if ya want tha job yer gonna need leg strength and endurance. C'mon and I'll see what ya got" she said, motioning for him to follow, "Name's Applejack, by the way." "A pleasure, miss Applejack." he added.

Walking over to one of the nearest trees filled with fruit, Applejack said "Here, try bucking all these apples off this try in one go." "That doesn't seem too hard." Shadow said, to which Applejack chuckled a little, "Well then Mr. Toughguy, go ahead and give 'er a try." So Shadow lined himself up with the tree and gave a slight kick, causing all the apples from the tree to fall neatly into the basket. "Like I said, not too hard." Shadow said with a smirk, "Well, you got yourself the job there, partner." said Applejack, holding out her hoof, which Shadow shook gladly. But before either parted ways, Applejack said "You have some mighty strange eyes, gotta say 'ave never seen any like them before." referring to how he only had a large blue iris. "I bet mah friend Twilight would love to meet ya." "Maybe I'll go and see her later." Shadow mused, thinking it over.

* * *

It had been a long day at his new job helping out at Sweet Apple, but he didn't mind. He enjoyed working there, knocking the apples down, carrying them inside the barn, and even helping out with the cooking once, though that didn't end like he had hoped.

'Well, I might as well go meet this Twilight Sparkle.' Shadow thought to himself "Who knows, maybe she might even be able to help find the Elements." he added aloud. Going back to Town Hall, he found that Twilight Sparkle lived in the local library and that she was apparently the personal student to Princess Celestia, whoever that was. 'I'm going to need to learn some history... great.' he thought 'No place better than a library.'

Making his way over to the library, which Shadow was surprised to find was built into a tree, he knocked on the door. When the door opened though, it wasn't a pony that stood there, rather, it was some sort of big reptile "Uhh... hello there, I'm here to speak to Twilight Sparkle." he said, not really sure what to say. What he got in response didn't surprise him one bit though, as the reptile looked into Shadow's eyes it started to shake and said "uhh.. Twi..Twilight, we've go..got a visitor." "Ok, be down in a second." came a light voice from somewhere inside "Go ahead and let them in Spike." The reptile named Spike practically zoomed up the stairs as Shadow entered the cozy ground floor. 'Maybe I'll get used to all of them not liking me that much.' Shadow lied to himself.

Waiting around, Shadow started browsing the books that were close at hand, though he didn't have time too pick one out and start reading before a purple unicorn came trotting down the wooden stairs. "Hi my name is Twilight Spark.." she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Shadow. Shadow couldn't help but break the now awkward silence "Hi, my name is Shadow Skull. Pleasure to meet you, miss Sparkle." he said with his normal greeting. "Applejack told me you might like to meet me?" he said in a questioning tone.

* * *

Next thing Shadow knew, he was being bombarded with questions by the excited unicorn, mainly focused around his cutie mark and eyes. He lied a little of course, Soul Shield's words still echoing in his mind, plus he didn't want anypony to know how he actually got here, even if it made him feel like one big lie. After answering her questions, Shadow asked a few of his own, mostly about the area, the locals, and other little unimportant things.

It was soon dark, so Shadow said his farewells and left. Only then did he realize he had no where to stay, quickly deciding that he could find someplace to stay in the nearby forest, he galloped into the darkness of the Everfree Forest, once again unaware that he was being followed

* * *

**Well Shadow's finally in the Land of the Living, with a new appearance to boot! But what pony could follow him into the Everfree Forest? Stay tuned!**

**Hey every reader, first off, I'd like to thank you all for being dedicated enough to keep reading my story. Secondly, I'd like to apologize at how long this chapter is, there was just a lot I wanted to get established upon Shadow's arrival. There are even a few more secrets coming up that I'm not gonna fully expose just yet, but it involves a certain pegasus not yet mentioned. Once again, thank you all for reading, reviews are always appreciated, and enjoy the afterlife!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone, once again sorry if the last chapter seemed kinda crappy, I was stressing out over it so I rushed a little bit. I hope to make this and all continuing chapters smoother reading. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

* * *

Soon after Shadow entered the forest, a familiar feeling washed over him. He was being watched, he could feel it. Shadow only came into the forest because he figured no pony else would come in here from all the dangerous things in here, and he needed a place to sleep. Shadow kept walking though, letting his observer believe he was oblivious to them. He kept walking till he found a cave, leading into the rock face of one of the steep drop-offs. Giving one last look around to tempt his stalker to keep following, Shadow quickly made his way deep into the cave. Ducking behind a piece of rock that jutted out from the wall, he waited in silence for his stalker.

Soon afterwards he heard soft wing beats, sounding loud in the deafening silence. He decided to keep his pony disguise on, not wanting to let his follower to know where he was from his glow. Soon, the outline of a pegasus passed in front of him, barely above the ground. He jumped at it, tackling the pegasus and holding them against the ground with his front hooves on their wings, but he didn't the pegasus to buck him in the stomach, even if it didn't hurt much, it was enough to put him off balance and let the pegasus escape outside. Shadow chased after them into the night, but all he saw was a rainbow streak flying away in the sky. "Well, it's going to be an interesting day tomorrow." he said.

* * *

Shadow woke early in the morning, probably an hour before dawn based on the position of the moon in the sky. He made his way out of the cave that he spent the night in, breathing a big sigh when he emerged. "Time to get to work." he said to himself, stretching his legs he noticed they had lost the fur he had yesterday "Definitely glad I got that pegasus to go away before I fell asleep." He made the fur re-appear, along with his mane, tail, and cutie mark, and set off for the farm.

On his way out of the forest, Shadow finally got a good view of the place that would be his home. It really was as strange as Twilight had described. The trees were different in the forest than in other areas he had seen outside of Ponyville, they were gnarled, twisted, and seemed like they were trying to reach out and grab him. And they somehow managed to absorb nearly all light that tried to penetrate into the forest. "This place is just weird, but it makes since in a way." Shadow said to himself, continuing his walk out of the woods.

It was almost dawn by the time Shadow emerged out of the woods. He quickly made his way over to the apple orchard and started his new job at bucking apples. But Shadow noticed something new that he didn't yesterday, all the trees seemed really close together, close enough that somepony could turn around and immediately kick the one opposite. An idea popped into his head, one he couldn't help but try.

Starting a little back, Shadow made a full gallop between the trees. But before he got onto the path, he jumped and twisted his body ninety-degrees. As soon as his hooves made contact with the first tree on the left he pushed off and landed on the second tree on the right, then the third on the left and so on. He couldn't believe it, he was jumping between the trees by pushing off the trunks and rebounding off of them. And each time he jumped onto and off of a tree all the apples fell off as well, making his job a bit easier.

* * *

The light of dawn crept its way into Applejack's room, matching the timing of her alarm clock. "Aaahhhh" she yawned, getting up and turning off her alarm clock, "Time to start workin." Putting on her hat, Applejack walked outside and up to her big brother Big Macintosh. "Mornin' Mac, you're up pretty early." But Big Macintosh only said "Yeup." and then asked a question of his own "Ya must be pretty tired AJ, why don't ya take a break today." "What 'yre talkin' 'bout?" Apple jack asked. "Them apples didn't buck 'emselves." he replied, nodding to the trees. Applejack's draw dropped almost to the ground, acres of apple trees had been bucked, the baskets missing along with the apples. "Ah didn't buck 'em." she replied "C'mon, let's go check the barn" she said as she made her way over to the old barn.

Applejack burst the door open, only for her jaw to drop even further than earlier at what she saw. For in the barn were hundreds of freshly picked apples, neatly stacked in their baskets, filling nearly every available inch of space. "What the hay is going on here!" she demanded. "Well, ah reckon that if you didn't do it, and I didn't do it, then there's only one pony that could do it." said her big brother, coming up from behind at his average slow canter. "Ya mean to tell me that ya think Shadow did all this?" she asked mulling over the possibility "Yeup" was all she got in reply.

That's when the siblings heard whistling and turned to see none other than Shadow pulling a cart of 10 baskets of apples hitched to his bone harness, completely filled. When he entered through the doors Shadow stopped whistling and said "Good morning Ms. Applejack, Mr. Macintosh." "Shadow, two things, one, ya gotta stop calling me Miss, and secondly, did ya do **all** of this?" she said, gesturing to the apple filled barn. "Umm… yes?" he said, nervous about his work now. "Did I do something wrong?" "Sugarcube, how long you been workin' out here?" Applejack asked. "Maybe about two hours, why?" he answered, content with not having to bend the truth for once. "No reason.. why don't ya take the rest of the day off sugar, we'll be good for a while now."

"Oh…okay then." he said, 'Great Shadow, way to freak out the mare that was kind enough to let you work here.' berating himself, Shadow put the cart in the barn and left, heading towards town. Shadow kept thinking to himself, wondering what to do for the rest of the day, when he saw something frighteningly familiar, a rainbow streak zooming towards town. "The pegasus.." he said, freezing a moment before galloping full speed towards the town.

* * *

Shadow galloped into town, his bone harness rattling as he stopped suddenly, twisting his head around frantically searching for to Pegasus that had stalked him into that cave the night before. He was about to keep searching until a bright pink mare popped in front of him. "Hiya!Myname'sPinkiePie,youmustbenewherebecauseIknow everyponyinPonyvillebutIdon' 'syourname,mine'sPinkiePie,owaitIalreadytoldyouthathehe he." Shadow barely understood her, and didn't understand how she had managed to say all of that in one breath while jumping up and down constantly. "Uhh..My name is Shadow Skull, pleased to meet you." he said hastily, still searching for the elusive pegasus. "Whatchya' lookin for?" asked Pinkie Pie, who somehow managed to get on his back and look through a spyglass. "No one" Shadow sighed after not being able to find anything for a hint. "Okie dokie." Pinkie said, before bouncing away with a smile plastered on her face.

Shadow just walked forward, not looking where he was going as his head was drooped a little. He kept walking, oblivious to anything and anypony else, that is till he bumped into one. "By Celestia! Watch where you're…going." yelled a white unicorn mare, at least until Shadow looked up. The mare looked into his eyes as she was raving, but she seemed to melt when he looked at her with his strange blue eyes. "My word." was all she managed, trying to make her legs not shake. "I'm sorry, I'll just be going." Shadow said, feeling even worse now. "No, no, its fine, I should have been looking where I was going, my name's Rarity." Said the mare, curtsying to the best she could. "My name is Shadow, it's a pleasure." he said, bowing in return,. "I must say, that is an absolutely dazzling gem you have there." continued the unicorn called Rarity. "I have to say I've never seen anything quite like it before in all my years of designing." "You make clothing?" asked Shadow, recalling all the dresses and suits from the City.

"That I do, though I have never seen anything like yours before." She replied motioning to Shadow's bone harness, truth be told he had forgotten he was wearing it. "But even if it isn't something I'd create, I have to say it matches your style brilliantly, accenting the darkness of your fur and body shape…" she continued on like this for several minutes before realizing what she was doing. "Oh, sorry darling, I forgot myself. I must be going now, it has been a pleasure meeting you." "The pleasure's mine, miss Rarity." said Shadow, bowing once more before Rarity continued on her way.

The whole meeting had lifted Shadow's spirits, if only a little. Talking with her brought back some happier memories from the City, this in turn got him thinking about his own appearance, bones, soul and all. Shadow figured Twilight might have something that could help him, even if it may just be fictional accounts, it couldn't hurt. As Shadow walked he noticed that the ponies seemed to be giving him an even wider berth than before, if that was possible. 'Something's wrong here, really wrong...' he thought to himself. Deciding it would be better to not be out in the open for very long Shadow hurried to the library.

But Shadow wasn't prepared for what he saw after opening the door. For talking with Twilight was a sky blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail, "Rainbow" whispered Shadow. But that was all it took for the mares hear him, "Oh, hey there Shadow, this is Rainbow Dash-" but that was as far as she got before the pegasus jumped up and flew for the only available exit, the window.

Shadow, however, beat her to it and tackled her once again placing his front hooves on her wings. Shadow was overcome with malice, the fierce emotion seemed to seep out of him as his eyes started to glow. "Who are you?" he questioned "Why were you following me?!" "Shadow! What are you doing?" Twilight interrupted, causing Shadow to look up from the squirming pegasus, though she immediately wished he hadn't. His face was full of raw emotions, something along the lines of malice, fury, and a hunger for answers. But his eyes seemed far more terrifying, the large blue eye was glowing and shifting as if they were in a mist, they now had depth to them, far more than anypony's she had ever seen. Twilight was petrified, unable to even think.

Shadow turned back to the pegasus under his hooves and looked into her eyes with his own, the pupil mimicking the misty look of his as her muscles went slack. "Answer me." he whispered menacingly, "I was following you because Fluttershy had a nightmare about you, and I wanted to know if you were some sort of monster." she said. Upon hearing the name Fluttershy though, he stopped, his previous mix of emotions washed away by a feeling of disbelief. And this was all the pegasus named Rainbow Dash needed for the strange magic to fade, quickly shoving Shadow off her she zipped out the window. He was about to run after her, anger flaring in his eyes, before he was slammed into a wall by a cocoon of purple magic. "SHADOW! CALM DOWN!" the sound snapped him out of his haze, he turned to see Twilight staring at him with her horn aglow with magic.

Shadow looked bout the room for a second, not sure of what just happened, then realization dawned on him. "Did...did I really just do that?" he asked, "Yes, and you've got some explaining to do as well. Stay there, I need to get everyone else." Twilight replied, releasing the spell. Shadow dropped to the ground and sat there, nervous of what was to come, as Twilight teleported away only returning about an hour later with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and a reluctant Rainbow Dash. He noticed none of them looked at his eyes.

"Well, what is it you want to know?" Shadow asked. "Fer' starters, tell us who ya are." Applejack said, starting the questioning. "I've told you that much, my name really is Shadow Skull believe it or not." he said, "What kind of magic was that, the thing with your eyes?" asked Twilight "I don't even know, it's just another thing to add to my list of things that make me a freak." "What's that supposed mean?" asked Rainbow Dash, putting on a show of bravado, "Well... Like I told Fluttershy, I'm not-" but Shadow was interrupted by a blood curdling scream from outside. All seven of them stopped what they were doing and rushed outside, none of them prepared for what they saw.

Pony skeletons were galloping and flying through Ponyville, wrecking everything in their path. Shadow stepped in front of the group of mares and said "You wanted to know why I'm a freak? I'll show you." His fur, mane, tail, and cutie mark vanished, replaced by a body of black bone and raging blue flames, his eyes stopped shinning and started glowing instead. Turning back to the group of gasping mares behind him he said "Like I told you, I'm not from around here." before jumping into the fray.

* * *

**Well now, I bet they didn't expect that now did they. Read on to find out what happens to Shadow Skull and Ponyville next.  
**

**Hey everyone, I hope this meets your standards of reading and makes up for the last chapter. I may have a bit more time on my hands than I have so I hope to be able to make more chapters sooner. I also plan on starting a side story soon, one that won't have any relevance on this story series. I'd appreciate if you all to voted on it if you want, the first one is between a griffon who has genetic mutations or a Pegasus that can manipulate wind with his wings. PLease take your pick and either comment or send me a message. Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Greetings everybrony, for those of you who have kept reading my story, know that you are the reason why I keep doing this and that you all are awesome. I apologize that it took so long for this to come out, I haven't had much time to work on this lately, but I hope that those of you who are still reading enjoy!  
**

* * *

It was madness as Shadow galloped into the fight, stalls and carts were flipped or shattered as homes were being broken. Shadow was only faintly aware that his flames were larger than they had ever been, his hooves leaving unmoving blue and green fire where he stepped. Some of the skeletons saw him and yelled to their companions and attracting more attention to him 'Well, at least I'll be able to lead them away' he thought. Shadow charged at them head on, appearing as if he was going to ram into them but at the last second he jumped over them, landing on the other side of the small group of undead ponies. "Catch me if you can!" he yelled back at them as he set off into a gallop away from the town the same way the skeletons came, attracting more of them as he raced away and barely dodging the members of his mob as some of them tried to slam into him.

He managed to lead the attacking undead to a clearing a few leagues away from Ponyville, the same one he woke up in just the day before 'Was it really that little long ago?' he thought for a second before returning to the mob. As they pressed in on him they shouted insults at him, such as "Traitor!" and "Monster!". All in all there were about fifty of them crowding around him, as they were about to charge at him a loud voice echoed from the other side of the clearing "Hey you big meanie weenies, leave him alone!" Shadow saw that it was Pinkie Pie, next to Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, who appeared to have lost all her uncharacteristic fear. Twilight was wearing a tiara with a large crystal while the rest wore a necklace with an appropriately colored gem inside them.

The Skele-ponies that were closest charged at them, which proved to be a big mistake as the mares let out bolts of different colored magic effectively blowing them apart. But despite the magic they were starting to be overwhelmed, Shadow couldn't let that happen, most of those mares had shown him kindness even though they had no idea who he was. The flames created by his soul grew more intense as he thought of only one thing he could do, bracing himself Shadow charged head on at the throng of Skele-ponies as flames trailed behind him. But right before ramming into the nearest skeletons he jumped into the air, and continued to jump over the field of skeletons by using them as springboards to continue, but each time he jumped off one they would burst into flames and soon reduced to his tactic, Shadow decided to keep leaping from one Skele-pony to the next reducing each one to ashes. This proved to work well and combined with the blasts of magic the girls generated they quickly put an end to the throng of skeletons, the meadow covered in bones and ash.

"Are you girls okay?" asked Shadow as he trotted over to the group of panting mares, noticing they had several scraps and cuts. "Yeah, we're...we're fine. But you've got.. a lot of.. explaining to do... mister" managed Twilight through her panting. "Well at least you're here to hear it" replied Shadow as he started leading them back to the town, still on the lookout for any more trouble. "Darling, you might want to change before we reach Ponyville, it might scare the townsfolk." Rarity said to Shadow who quickly realized he was still in his regular form "Oh yeah, one second" he quickly regrew his fur, mane, tail, and cutie mark and soon looked like a regular pony, except his for his eyes, and they continued their walk back to Twilight's house.

Upon entering the library they all sat down and enjoyed a brief moment of silence before Twilight asked her first question, "So Shadow, what exactly **are **you?" "Honestly, I don't even know. I've always been like that, but I wasn't as...solid, back in my original home as I am now" replied Shadow. "And were exactly was that, huh?" asked Rainbow Dash, no longer afraid. "Well, I'm from the City of the Dead, the capitol and seat of power in the Land of the Dead, where the Queen rules from her palace. That's why I was slightly surprised to learn that this world is ruled by two princesses Twilight".

"What about yer family sugarcube, surely they miss ya." said Applejack, to which Shadow's ears folded down as he became slightly angry "I don't have a real family, the only thing I could have considered a family were killed when the Queen was usurped, the day before I came here". "How can somepony who's already died die again, the mere though befuddles me" asked Rarity "Well, when you die you either turn into a Skele-pony, the beings we just fought, or a Soul-pony, who can only be a unicorn or an alicorn. Even when you die, your not entirely dead, the only way to truly die is to either have your bones blown apart and or crushed, or have your soul burned." "That's just awful, no pony deserves that" interjected Fluttershy in her quiet voice. "Sorry to tell ya Fluttershy, but that's the way it is, and some do it anyways" replied Shadow.

"Mind if I ask a few questions of my own?" Shadow asked "Because I'm wondering what you and those necklaces are" "That's easy peasy, we're the Elements of Harmony!" said Pinkie Pie jumping up and down in excitement. "Wait..what?! **You're** the Elements of Harmony?!' he asked looking at all the mares before him wordlessly before breaking out into a grin that could almost put Pinkie to shame. "YES! THIS IS GREAT!" he yelled punching the air with his hoof, "Now calm down sugarcube, why ya all excited that we're the Elements of Harmony?" said Applejack. "Because that means I'm a third of the way there! IT'S WONDERFUL!" he said jumping around in excitement "Calm down Shadow, what do you mean a third of the way there?" Twilight asked trying to make Shadow sit down again.

"Sorry, the whole reason I'm even here is to do three things, find the Elements of Harmony, the Elements of _Dis_harmony, and defeat some sort of giant evil that's going to destroy the worlds of the living and dead." answered Shadow, managing to control himself. "Right now the main problem is how those Skele-ponies managed to get here, could they have followed you, however you got out?" asked Twilight, "I don't think so, whatever kind of magic brought me here felt... old, like it could only be used at a certain time" he answered. "Hmmm, this is going to make an interesting letter to the Princess." Twilight mused.

Shadow whipped his head to look at Twilight "Wait a second… could we not tell them about me? I'd rather not be taken away and interrogated by royalty." He said rubbing his leg with his hoof nervously. "Shadow, please, I'm sure the Princesses won't do anything like that. If we explain the situation I'm sure that they would want very much to help." Twilight argued "Twilight, if you mention me in your letter to them I will leave here and only focus on helping **my **world, do you understand?" Shadow said staring her down. "Fine... I won't tell them." Twilight said begrudgingly "Thank you" sighed Shadow "Now if you excuse me, it's rather late, and the place I'm staying is rather far away." "You mean those caves I followed you to? That's where you're staying?" asked Rainbow Dash, causing looks of concern to appear on the rest of the girls' faces. Shadow sighed, "Yes, that is where I'm staying." "Sugarcube, ya coulda said somethin. We got plenty of extra space around the farm, ya could stay there."

"It's fine, and besides, with the bits I'm earning I'll be able to furnish it soon enough." Shadow replied. Applejack eyed him a bit before giving in "If ya say so..." "Thank you. Now once more, if you will excuse me." Shadow said before leaving the library and the group of mares.

"Well ladies, I think it's time for us to retire as well, it has been a rather eventful day." Rarity said to the group as she made her way out the door as well, soon followed by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. Fluttershy looked around and spotted Shadow on the edges of the Everfree Forest. She let her gaze hang there as she worried about him, she had no idea why but she thought his was nice, even though he could be really scary. 'I can't let him sleep on a cold cave floor without anything to keep warm... hmmm' she thought to herself trotting back to her cottage.

**_Later_**

Fluttershy quietly got up from her bed, making sure not to cause any noise. Grabbing the extra blanket she had for really cold nights and putting it in her saddle bag Fluttershy floated down the stairs of her cottage and up to the door, quietly sneaking out the door. Letting out a sigh of relief, Fluttershy galloped to where she saw Shadow enter the Everfree Forest, where she found his hoofprints. Using them as a trail Fluttershy followed the prints into the forest, eventually coming to a cave opening where she saw a dull glow coming from within. 'That's gotta be him' Fluttershy thought to herself as she trotted farther in following the glow as it steadily got brighter. She soon found Shadow, sleeping soundly on the cave floor as the flames that made his mane and tail glowed in time with his breathing.

'He doesn't look too scary.' Fluttershy thought. "I'm sure he won't mind this" she said to herself as she took out the blanket and laid it on top of the sleeping Shadow. He unconsciously brought it around him in his sleep, causing an "Awww" from Fluttershy. 'Well, now that that's done, I'd best be getting back so I can get some sleep too.' Fluttershy thought, she turned around and started trotting back to her cottage,

* * *

Shadow shot up with a fright, whipping his head back and forth before realizing he was having a nightmare. Looking at his back he found that somepony had come and put a blanket on him at some point in the night, though it was easy to tell who due to the naturalistic design. 'I'll have to thank Fluttershy for the blanket' he thought as he got up, folded it and placed it on his back. "Time to go to work" Shadow said aloud starting his walk to Ponyville.

As Shadow was walking through the forest he couldn't help but marvel at it once more. The trees still appeared as if they were going to reach out and grab him despite them being so tall. The eerie silence gave off a sombre feeling as he trotted to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Remembering how he looked Shadow once again made his fur, mane, tail, and cutie mark reappear and headed out into town. "This is going to get irritating if I have to do that every morning..." he muttered to himself.

He decided to go to Rarity's first to get a saddlebag. Finding her store Shadow knocked on the front door only to have it opened not a second later. "Shadow, it's a pleasure to see you dear. What can I do for you this fine morning?" asked Rarity "Well, I was hoping you might have a saddlebag for sale, preferably one that could hook onto my harness if it's not any trouble." Shadow answered "No trouble at all dear, come in. I even meant to ask you where you got that thing, I've never seen a gem that beautiful before." she said while shifting through dozens of saddlebags. "I guess you could say it was a gift from a friend." Shadow replied. "Aha! Here, see how this works." Rarity said, magically hooking a black and white saddlebag onto his harness. "Wow, it looks amazing! How much do I owe you?" he asked as he admired the bag. "Oh, nothing darling, consider it a 'Welcome to Ponyville' gift." Rarity answered, shooing him out the door before he could protest. "Well, guess it's off to work again" he thought aloud, placing the blanket in his new saddlebag.

Coming up to the apple orchard Shadow was greeted by an enthusiastic Applebloom "Hiya Mr. Shadow! Do ya got a minute?" she asked. Shadow couldn't help but smile at her energy "Of course, what do you need Applebloom?" he asked "Ah was wondering if ya could help me and meh friends to try and get our cutie marks!" the filly replied still filled with energy "Sorry Applebloom but I've got to work today, perhaps another time." Shadow said "Okay then, see ya later!" yelled Applebloom as she galloped off into town. "There ya are Shadow!" came a familiar voice from behind him "Hello to you to Applejack" he said turning around and seeing the orange mare. "What am I doing today boss?" "Well, ah figured you could sell a barrel or two of them apples why got in the barn, c'mon, I'll show how to hook up the cart." Applejack answered as she led Shadow to the barn. The cart already had two barrels of apples on the back and luckily the cart seemed to be able to hook straight onto Shadow's harness. "Well that's convenient" said Applejack as she hitched Shadow to the cart "Now go sell some of them apples, 2 bits each." "Yes ma'am" Shadow replied giving a mock salute.

* * *

Several minutes later Shadow was selling apples with a happy smile on his face as he made idle conversation with the occasional customer. Soon however, a familiar looking yellow pegasus came up to the stand "Hey Shadow, could I umm... buy some apples for my animals please?" Fluttershy said, her face turning a slight shade of red. "Sure thing Fluttershy, here you go." Shadow replied happily, giving her a bag of apples "Thank you, by the way, for the blanket. I have it with me if you want it back." he said reaching for his saddlebag. "No..it's fine, consider it a gift." Fluttershy said turning a little bit more red before leaving the bits on the stand and hurrying off.

"She's very sweet isn't she." a voice said behind him. Turning around Shadow saw a white alicorn standing behind him wearing a gold crown and necklace. Seeing the alicorn caused Shadow to freeze, fear causing him to be rooted to the spot. "P..Princess Celestia, to..to what do I owe the honor?" Shadow managed to stammer. "I think you know why I'm here." replied the Princess calmly as the area started to fill with what could only be the royal guard "Twilight told you, didn't she?" Shadow asked. "Yes, she did. I would appreciate if you came back to Canterlot with me so we can talk about.." "No." Shadow interrupted blankly "That wasn't exactly a request, Shadow." the Princess replied as her voice started to get an edge to it.

By this point a crowd had formed and was being held back by some of the guards. Shadow looked to one side and saw the six mares push past the guards, Twilight's face filled with guilt. "Princess, what in tarnation is going on?" asked Applejack "Ask. Her." Shadow said venomously, looking at Twilight who only lowered head. "She broke her promise" he continued "But I'm going to keep mine." his eyes narrowed as he struggled to keep the anger he was feeling in check.

Shadow quickly let his disguise vanish, causing gasps and murmurs to escape from the gathered spectators. "Now Shadow, don't do anything that you're going to regret, dear." Rarity said, "I regret nothing.." he said as his flames grew larger and brighter. Shadow reared up and slammed his front hooves into the ground, causing a crack to appear in the ground and spit fire high into the sky, catching everypony off guard. Using this as a distraction Shadow galloped towards the circle of guards and easily jumped over them, his flames trailing behind him, and continued his gallop. Thinking of only one place where he could hide, Shadow galloped towards the Everfree forest.

By the time Celestia closed the crack and took to the sky Shadow had made it to the edge of the forest and continued in... lost.

* * *

_The figure watched from the rooftop of a nearby building, she had managed to pinpoint the magical anomaly to this town. She was about to leave when the Princess had shown up and started to talk with the black pony selling apples. he had caught her attention at first, seeming to fit the description, but she soon lost interest in him, that is untill he changed. His fur and cutie mark disappearing as his mane and tail were replaced by fire, **blue **fire. She was completely caught off guard along with the crowd of ponies but for an all together different reason. She smiled, the time was finally coming, 'Time to go hunting' she thought, seeing Shadow gallop into the forest._

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**How could Twilight do that? And more importantly who is that strange figure standing on the rooftop and what is she after? Guess you'll have to wait and find out! MUAHAHAHA *ahem***

**Hey you bronies that have made it this far. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, once again I'm sorry it took so long to upload this one, like I said earlier, I haven't had much time to myself (and honestly I was having a bit of writer's block, luckily a good song can help). Reviews are much appreciated, as are ideas and/or character submissions for future chapters, thank you all!  
**


	6. Chapter 6 (Part 1 of 2)

**Greetings**** fellow bronies and others, I'd thought you all might appreciate a "Happy Thanksgiving" chapter, so here it is. Enjoy!**

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Shadow's harness rattled and his saddlebag bounced wildly as he kept running through the Everfree Forest. He finally slowed to a stop as he came upon an enormous chasm with a rope bridge being the only thing leading into the mist that rose from the depths. As he looked back Shadow noticed that he had left a trail of smoldering hoof prints through the forest 'Apples.. If I'm gonna hide successfully I can't have an obvious trail giving me away...' he thought. Donning his disguise once more Shadow continued onto the bridge.

The mist was so think the Shadow could only see a few feet in front of his own face, so it came as no surprise to him when his hoof went through one of the boards. "Buck!" Shadow yelled as he nearly fell through the bridge entirely. Getting his leg out of the destroyed board Shadow grumbled to himself as he continued on and soon reached the other side. "Good thing I'm off that stupid bridge" he thought aloud "And even better you didn't fall through, you outta be more careful on things like that" came a voice ahead of him. Jumping to look at whoever had spoken, Shadow was startled to see an ashen colored mare with a vibrantly colored green mane and tail leaning against a tree. "Who are you?" Shadow asked the strange mare, eying her warily as she approached. "My name's Cinder Coat, what's yours?" she asked flashing Shadow a warm smile "My name is Shadow Skull, pleased to meet you" he replied, still remembering his manners.

"Haha, and a gentlecolt, that's funny!" Cinder chuckled. "Am I missing something?" Shadow asked confused "And more importantly what are you doing out here?" "Isn't that kind of obvious? I was looking for you" she said as if it was completely obvious fact. "What are you..." Shadow began, only to have his jaw drop at what happened next. Cinder Coat changed, her fur, mane, and tail seemed to fade away leaving fire and bone in their place. "You're a...you're one too?" Shadow stammered dumbstruck "Yep, now loose the get-up, no reason to worry" Cinder replied, still smiling.

Shadow, still not sure what to do, let the disguise fade away, blue and green flames emerging as his fur vanished. "Good, now come on, the others are gonna want to meet you." Cinder said waving a hoof further down the road "Others?" said Shadow.

* * *

"How could ya do that Twilight? Ya promised Shadow ya wouldn' tell the Princess!" Applejack practically yelled at her friend. The whole ordeal between Shadow and the Princess having ended and the crowd dispersed, the six friends had gone back to Twilight's house.

"I..I couldn't do it, it was too important to not tell." Twilight responded looking at the ground, she knew she deserved every word her friend was giving her. But none of them expected what happened next. Fluttershy, timid and kind Fluttershy, trotted up to

Twilight and slapped her across the face with a resounding clap. The only thing the other girls could do was stare bewilderingly with dropped jaws as Fluttershy trotted out angrily and slammed the door.

* * *

"So how much farther is it until we've gotten to where ever it is we're going?" Shadow asked trying to break the silence. "Not too much farther, luckily you went in the right direction when you ran into the forest." Cinder Coat looked back and answered "But you may want to take the bone harness off before we get there, it may freak some of them out." "Then they'll have to deal with it, I am **not** taking it off.." he replied firmly. Cinder Coat raised an eyebrow at him "Fine, but I have to ask, what's up with your eyes?" she asked "I have absolutely no idea, I've always been and apparently always will be an oddball.." he replied curtly.

"Okay... Hold up, we're almost there. You wait here while I go and tell the others that I brought you here." Cinder Coat said holding up her hoof. Shadow stopped and stood where he was, extremely nervous about what was coming. "Ok, I'll just wait right here, I guess" Shadow said looking around. Cinder Coat stopped and looked back to make sure Shadow was still there, then continued on.

* * *

Rainbow Dash flew through Ponyville and went straight to Fluttershy's cottage. When she got there Rainbow Dash went straight inside only to see Fluttershy packing her saddlebags, a determined look on her face. "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked "I'm going into the Everfree Forest to find Shadow and bring him back." she replied bluntly. "Are you listening to yourself? You're going into the Everfree Forest, ** the Everfree Forest**, just to try and bring back some monster that could turn you into a pile of ash whenever he wants. Think about it." Rainbow Dash tried to reason.

"He's not a monster Rainbow Dash, you know that. And just because he's different doesn't mean he doesn't deserve kindness like you or me." Fluttershy argued "And you can't change my mind, I'm going no matter what you say... but I'd really appreciate it if my best friend would come with me." "I really can't change your mind can I?" asked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy shook her head "Fine, I'll come along." Rainbow Dash said reluctantly and getting a warm smile from Fluttershy "Thank you Rainbow Dash" "Yeah, whatever, I'm gonna go get my stuff, I'll meet you back here in a bit." Rainbow Dash replied as she left and flew away.

As Rainbow Dash was flying over Ponyville she heard some pony yell "Rainbow Dash! Down here!" looking around she saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and even Rarity galloping after her. "What's up?" she asked as she landed on the ground "Is Fluttershy alright? We saw ya headin over there but couldn't catch ya in time." Applejack asked. "Well, she's planning on going to search for Shadow sooo.. probably not entirely. But I'm gonna go with her and try to help." Rainbow Dash answered "What in tarnation?! Yall plan on trying to search for Shadow alone in the Everfree Forest?" Applejack said astonished, Rainbow Dash only nodded her head "Well heck, I'll come along too" Applejack said "And me as well darling" Rarity agreed "Oh and me! I still need to throw him a party!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically.

"It's settled then, every pony go home and pack, we'll meet up with Fluttershy at her cottage as soon as possible." Rainbow Dash said with her own determined look. They all spread out and headed to their homes to a pack things they'd need. Soon the four of them were all standing outside of Fluttershy's cottage. Opening the door Fluttershy was surprised to see three more of her friends there "It's cool Fluttershy, they all wanted to come along and help too" Rainbow Dash assured her. "We couldn let ya just go lookin for Shadow with just Rainbow Dash" said Applejack "Or let you ruin your coat darling" Rarity added "What they said" Pinkie said pulling a cupcake out of her mane and eating it in one bite "Or forget snacks!" She added through a mouthful of cupcake.

"Thanks girls, I know you don't have to come along, this is really nice of you" Fluttershy said smiling at her friends. "Now come on girls, we've got a pony to find!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she and her friends made their way towards the Everfree Forest. "Wait a second, y'all think we should get Twilight to help? She did cause this whole mess." Applejack suggested, making them all pause. "What do you girls think?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends. "As much I'm disappointed with her, we could use Twilight's help. Plus she can help fix what she's done here." answered Rarity "She's gotta do something nice since she broke a promise, even if it wasn't a Pinkie promise.." Pinkie added "...okay.." Fluttershy said under her breath.

"Then it's settled, let's go get her before we all head into that there forest." Applejack stated as they started to make their way back towards Ponyville. After getting back to town the group quickly found that Twilight was still in her home moping over what happened, and her mood seemed to worsen when the girls came in. "Hey girls.." Twilight said sadly "Do you need something?" "Yeah, you. Now come on and pack some stuff, we're going to find Shadow and you're coming too." Rainbow Dash said pushing Twilight towards the stairs. "Wait, you're going after him?!" exclaimed Twilight as she jumped up "Why in Celestia's name would you do that?" "Because he deserves kindness no matter what others think" Fluttershy interrupted and giving Twilight a little glare.

Rainbow Dash stopped pushing Twilight and looked at her too "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" she asked defensively. "Ponies do but not evil monsters" Twilight answered "He isn't a monster Twilight." Fluttershy interjected "Yes he is, didn't the Princess tell you too?" Twilight asked "Tell us what, dear?" Rarity asked. "After what happened in town earlier the Princess told me why she brought all the guards. Shadow is a Nightmare." Twilight said looking at her friends.

"Oh, like that meanie Nightmare Moon?" Pinkie Pie asked popping her head up. "Sadly no, Nightmare Moon was a Nightmare in the sense that she was a mare of the night. Nightmares were supposed to be evil creatures that could change their appearance and always tried to spread chaos where ever they went. They **were** monsters." explained Twilight. "So you're saying that Shadow really is a monster?" asked Rainbow Dash "Ah don't believe that for a second, way he worked on the farm wasn't the way somepony that was evil would act." said Applejack. "But that's just it Applejack, they aren't ponies and they manipulated facts and ponies to suit their own needs." Twilight countered.

All of their heads turned when they heard the door slam shut behind them, Fluttershy no where in sight. Rainbow Dash groaned as she zipped out the window and found Fluttershy heading back towards the forest with her saddlebags still on. "Fluttershy, you can't still be going to try and find Shadow after what Twilight just told us." Rainbow Dash said "It don't care what Twilight said, Shadow isn't like that, he's not a monster." Fluttershy said trying to go around Rainbow Dash only to be blocked each time by her friend.

"Please move Rainbow Dash..Rainbow Dash...please move." Fluttershy asked but each time Rainbow Dash kept stepping into her way. "No way Fluttershy, I'm not gonna let you go and try to get yourself hurt." Rainbow Dash said as she once again stepped in front of her friend. Fluttershy only got more irritated when the rest of her friends got there "Why can't you girls just let me do this?" she pleaded.

"Why **do** ya wanna go after him so badly sugarcube?" asked Applejack as she put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "It's just something I really want to do." Fluttershy answered "There's more to it than that though, ain't there?" Applejack persisted causing Fluttershy to look away. "Fluttershy, is there something you're not telling us?" asked Rainbow Dash with some concern on her face.

Fluttershy looked down and sighed and when she looked back up she looked sad. "I..I didn't want to tell you all this, but there was more to that nightmare I had a while back." she said "The one about Shadow?" Rainbow Dash asked and received a nod from Fluttershy. "After I woke up the first time and went back to sleep..I dreamed of this weird place, there were scary looking ponies everywhere, like those ones we fought the other day. It was really scary, but I wasn't afraid, I just kept walking like it was something I saw everyday. Soon things got even stranger, I talked with this one ghost-like pony, but it wasn't my voice, and when I tried to do something I couldn't, it was like I wasn't in control of what was happening. Soon I found myself outside this creepy looking castle with really, really scary looking guards out front. I went inside and walked up some stairs, there were some more of those skeleton ponies talking there next to an alicorn, but she was ghosty looking too. I don't know why but I felt so happy when I saw two of those ponies, and then we all hugged and they called me sweetie and Shadow. **Shadow**. Somehow I was reliving what I can only guess now were Shadow's memories. Next thing I know I'm in a courtyard surrounded by those guards when one of those ghost ponies and a strange corpse-like pony came out of no where and beat them up. Then I was in some sort of chamber and the same ghost pony was telling me something about the Elements of Disharmony."

Twilight interrupted "Did he tell you who or what these Elements of Disharmony are?" "No, just that they're Lies, Greed, Rage, Disloyalty, Fear, and Sickness. For some reason it felt as if I was lost and furious, like I ha no idea who I was, like everything was fake and false. But then something exploded and more of those guards filled the chamber. The ghost pony and I ran to the other end of the chamber and onto a platform. Magic enveloped it and then there were lights everywhere and no sound, I felt a lot of pain, like my body was changing. I looked over at the ghost pony again and saw that he was changing, he turned into a harness with a gem in it, seeing that made me feel extremely sad, then I woke up."

The rest of the girls sat there dumbstruck at what they just heard. "Fluttershy dear, why didn't you tell us?" Rarity asked "I didn't know what it meant then." she answered. "So now do you all realize why I want to find him? I know what he felt, what he thinks, he isn't a monster." pleaded Fluttershy. "We understand sugarcube, and I'll still go and help ya." Applejack answered "Me too." Pinkie Pie said "And me." Rainbow Dash "I could never let you do this alone darling." said Rarity "I'm still not too sure about this whole thing, but I still want to help." Twilight said.

"Thank you girls" Fluttershy sighed "Yeah, yeah don't get to sappy, let's go find ourselves a missing pony!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed leaping into the air. They all hugged despite Rainbow Dash's comment and followed Shadow's hoof prints into the forest.

They followed his trail to the bridge before they stopped. "He couldn't have really gone over this thing, could he?" Rainbow Dash asked aloud. "His trail leads onto the bridge, so that's where we're going" Fluttershy said determinedly as she stepped onto the rickety bridge. They all soon followed suite and made it to the other side carefully. As they picked up Shadow's trail they heard rustling from the side.

Suddenly about a dozen red-flamed Nightmares jumped out of the nearby bushes. "Well, I didn't see this coming.." Rainbow Dash trailed off.

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**Well that was unexpected in the extreme.. What will become of the girls and Shadow? Keep reading to find out!**

**Hey everybrony, pegasisters, and others, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as a Thanksgiving gift. Hope you all have a wonderful week! (P.S. I'm still open to suggestions and character submissions for future chapters)**


	7. Chapter 7 (Part 2 of 2)

**Salutations my readers, I do hope you enjoyed the last chapter on your Thanksgiving night. And to you two readers in Sweden and Venezuela, you made me very happy when I saw that I managed to attract attention from places so varied and for that I thank you specifically who/where ever you are. Enjoy chapter 7!**

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Cinder Coat took one last look behind her before leaving Shadow and going on ahead. 'I still can't believe it..' Cinder Coat thought as she approached what appeared to a mountainside. She gave it three hard bucks before a section of the rock-face slid to the side, a dull white colored stallion stepped out, "Cinder, what are you doing back so soon?" he asked. "Calm down Ashy, I just need you to keep the door open, I found another one." said Cinder Coat pointing behind her "One of these days I'm going to stop opening this door for you if you keep calling me Ashy, it's Ashen. And fine, I'll keep the door open for you and your new changeling." the stallion Ashen replied, causing Cinder Coat to chuckle. "What's so funny?" he asked, "You'll see when I bring him around.." Cinder Coat said a little slyly as she left the entrance and made her way towards Shadow.

Cinder made her way back to the spot were she left Shadow and stopped suddenly when she got there. Shadow wasn't there! "Shadow! Shadow where are you?" Cinder Coat called out, "I'm right here." the voice made Cinder Coat jump in surprise. Cinder Coat looked around but didn't see anything "Where is here?" she asked.

"Up here." Shadow said as his head and neck emerged from a tree branch and causing Cinder Coat to jump again. "Why and how in the hay are you up there?" she practically hissed, "I'm not entirely sure, one moment I'm standing where you are, and the next I'm up here hiding when I heard hoof beats. I do like this tree though.." Shadow trailed off, uncharacteristically, before snapping back to focus. "Sorry, I'll come down now." he said before jumping onto the trunk and using it like a springboard to jump onto the ground.

Cinder Coat just ignored him, still slightly upset that she had been scared so easily. "Okay, whatever, now come on. There are some ponies that will want to meet you." "Umm, okay." Shadow replied, once again following the mysterious mare.

As they kept going Shadow saw a large rock-face, but what intrigued him was the gaping hole at the bottom with a white stallion leaning against the side. "Is he..?" Shadow tried to ask "Yes, he's like us too, and his name is Ashen." Cinder Coat replied bluntly, though she couldn't help but smirk to herself 'How little he knows..'

"Who's this Cinder?" Ashen asked, pointing a hoof at Shadow "His name is Shadow Skull, be nice." Cinder told Ashen "Why is he disguised, doesn't he know changelings are safe here?" Ashen continued. This time Shadow responded "Sorry but, what is a changeling?" asked Shadow causing Ashen to look confused and Cinder Coat to laugh.

"Okay Cinder, is this some kind of joke?" asked Ashen, a little irritated. "Go ahead Shadow, show him." Cinder Coat said after she managed to stop laughing. "Will I have to do this often?" Shadow asked in reply "Only if you keep insisting on disguising yourself, now show him." answered Cinder Coat.

Shadow sighed, "Okay, sorry." "What are you two talking about, show me wha.." Ashen began, only to stop and drop his jaw at what he was seeing. Shadow once again changed, losing all his fur and his mane and tail being replaced by blue and green flames."You..you're a...you're a..." Ashen stammered, "It's rude to stare Ashy." Cinder Coat snickered. "Come on, we need to talk with Commander Fire Mane." she said, leaving Ashen standing there speechless as Shadow once again regrew his fur, mane, and tail.

As they walked through the long winding tunnel they passed some ponies and large amounts of what Shadow could only assume were changelings. Pony-like creatures with holes in their legs and insect-like wings. Shadow couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as they all stopped to look at him as they passed. The pair soon reached another door, this one unhidden, that was guarded by two ponies, one a mare and the other a stallion But both had a gold-orange mane. "Let us through, Commander Fire Mane is going to want and meet this one." Cinder Coat said plainly.

The pair of guards looked at them and then to eachother before opening the door "Thanks Wisp, thanks Smoke." Cinder nodded to the guards, who just nodded back before resuming their posts.

Shadow looked around the extremely large room, it was surprisingly well furnished for a cave. There were several tables scattered around, rugs and carpets littered the floor randomly, there were even bookshelves stocked to the brim with old, dusty tomes.

They approached one table that had several ponies around it, all of them had fiery-red manes. As Cinder lead Shadow towards the table none of them bothered to look up and kept going over what ever it was they were looking at on the table. "What is it this time Cinder, did you find another changeling?" asked an imposingly tall stallion, still not bothering to look up "Sorry Commander, but I thought you might want to meet this one, he isn't a changeling." answered Cinder Coat. This caused all of them to stop talking and look up, "What are you saying Cinder?" asked the Commander "He's one of us!" Cinder Coat said with excitement.

Shadow could feel all eyes on him as Cinder Coat kept talking. "When I went to investigate that magical disturbance at the nearby town I found him there, I didn't think much of him until the Princess showed up with some of the royal guards. That's when he changed. He slammed the ground with his hooves and caused a flame geyser before jumping over the line of guards and escaping into the forest."

The Commander looked straight at Shadow "Is this true?" he asked. Shadow only nodded in reply, not sure what else to do. "Can he speak?" Commander Fire Mane asked turning to Cinder "Yes, and he's polite. You're probably just scaring him Commander." she answered. Turning his gaze back to Shadow, Commander Fire Mane said "Well say something then.." unable to think of anything else, Shadow responded with "He..Hello, my name is Shadow, it's a pleasure to meet you sir." he said respectfully.

Commander Fire Mane looked over towards Cinder Coat skeptically before turning back to Shadow and saying bluntly "Change." Shadow sighed, but not wanting to cause any problems, he let his coat, mane, and tail fade away to be replaced by bone and fire.

Cinder Coat smiled to herself at the sound of surprised murmurs from the ones at the table and a mental cheer at the shocked face on Commander Fire Mane's face.

"He's... he's a Blue.." stammered one of the ponies at the table. "Obviously Lieutenant Bone.." Commander Fire Mane said, managing to regain his stoic composure. "You're the best Green we have Cinder, but even this is hard to believe. The Blues were ended over a millennium ago. We need to go to Ember Sight about this." he continued.

"There is no need, I am already here.." a slow raspy voice said, causing the group gathered around the table to split and reveal an old stallion with a long and wispy purple mane. Shadow just stood there without the slightest clue about what was going on, as the old stallion slowly made his way up to Shadow.

"Your eyes are odd.." said the old stallion, who Shadow could only guess was this Ember Sight they were all muttering about. "Gee, thanks a lot.." Shadow muttered looking down, only to receive a sharp knock on his head from Ember Sight. Shadow didn't say anything in fear of another whack to his skull, even when Rainbow Dash had bucked him in the gut with her legs it hadn't hurt. "It wasn't an insult." said Ember Sight.

Shadow looked up at the old, long maned stallion in front of him. As Shadow examined the Ember Sight, Ember Sight examined Shadow with a gleam in his purple colored eyes. After what felt like eternity Ember Sight said without turning around "He is worthy of the Pyre.." before turning around and walking off, leaving all but Shadow and Commander Fire Mane muttering in disbelief. Commander Fire Mane turned to the muttering group and spoke in an authoritative tone "We're done here, I want you all to go on patrol, make sure these two weren't followed through the forest. Dismissed." The dozen red manned ponies quickly saluted and left through the same door Cinder Coat and Shadow entered with.

"Sorry, but, what just happened? Everypony keeps talking like all of this is common knowledge, and in case you forgot I'm not from here, I have no idea what is going on. So please, can **any** pony tell me what is happening here?" Shadow asked, finally managing to find his voice. The Commander just turned to Shadow and said "You will have to wait for that, first we have to go to the Pyre." "Okay, but what's so special about this Pyre?" Shadow stubbornly asked. "**The** Pyre, is where we're supposed to come from, born of it's fires, and which is why **you** are so strange, that and the green in you tail. Going to the Pyre is something very few of us get to do, it's reserved for Purples and very special occasions. Now follow me." replied Commander Fire Mane, walking off in the same direction the old pony Ember Sight vanished to, Shadow and Cinder Coat in tow.

The trio soon arrived at a large metal door, intricately carved with designs of fire 'Okay, all the fire is starting to get old..' Shadow thought to himself as the Commander pushed open the heavy door; it lead to another large room which was a perfectly smooth dome and exceedingly bare even for a cave. In the center was a ring stalagmites centered around a large multicolored fire of red, green, gold, white, blue, and purple.

Sitting in front of the trio with his back towards them was the old pony Ember Sight, his mane trailing out behind him as his head bobbed around and he muttered to himself. "What is he doing?" Shadow whispered to Cinder Coat, "He's communing, the Pyre is sentient and Purples have a strong connection to it, I'll explain later." she answered, ending the conversation.

The whole room suddenly got colder, even as the Pyre seemed to burn brighter. A voice sounded out seemingly from everywhere, old yet melodious.

_"The heir emerges from shadow and fire_

_branded a monster and called a liar._

_Choices abound as a path emerges_

_but all must fight chaotic urges._

_Life will be found with an unlikely friend_

_but all things must come to an end._

_When all seems lost a choice must be made_

_life and death, they both must fade._

_One will be forsaken at the cost of another_

_either friends, or a sister and brother."_

The temperature in the room returned to normal as the voice died away, leaving the group in a deafening silence. It was Ember Sight who finally broke the silence "Now all of you must leave, it is growing more and more difficult to commune and I must sleep." he said ushering them out of the bare room. When the were all out Shadow was more confused than ever as the large metal door clanged shut behind him._  
_

"Um, sorry to seem so ignorant again, but what was that?" Shadow asked no one in particular. Commander Fire Mane turned to him with that expressionless face "Even I'm not sure, if I had to guess I'd say it was some sort of prophecy concerning you; but if you are the heir that the Pyre mentioned then that means you really are a Blue. We'll talk more later." he said before walking off down another tunnel, only to be stopped by Lieutenant Bone, if Shadow remembered correctly.

"Sir, we found some ponies from the nearby toe making their way through the forest. It appeared like they were following these two's trail." said Lieutenant Bone. When he heard that, flags immediately went up in Shadow's mind. "How many were there and what did you do with them?" asked the Commander "Six, we bound and blindfolded them before bringing them back here for interrogation, the others are keeping watch on them at the entrance, sir." answered the Lieutenant. Shadow didn't wait the Commander's response if there was one, he galloped towards the cave entrance so fast that the others only saw a dust cloud behind him.

'Please let it not be them, please let it not be them..' Shadow thought over and over again as he made his way to where he first entered the cave system, jumping over changelings and ponies that where in his way or jumping off the walls when they didn't see him and duck.

When he finally managed to reach the entrance he found himself at the back of a small crowd of changelings. In the center he saw the very same girls he was wishing they weren't. But there they were, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy... Fluttershy.

When Shadow saw Fluttershy with her wings and hooves bound and blindfolded, shaking and trying to hide, something in him seemed to snap. He wasn't sure why, but seeing Fluttershy like that infuriated him to his core. This time when he changed, Shadow's fur didn't fade away, it burned off as his whole body lit up like candle.

Shadow leaped over the crowd like he did in Ponyville and landed in front of the six bound mares. The crowd if changelings back away when they saw the furious black stallion seemingly appear before them with fire streaming from his eyes and a mane the size of a small inferno. As Shadow once again slammed his forelegs hard into the cave floor, instead of a spout of fire, a ring of blue flame encircled the girls.

Even the group of Reds who captured them back up at the display, and their fear only solidified as Shadow yelled in a furious voice of outrage "IF YOU LAY SO MUCH AS A HOOF ON ANY OF THEM, I SWEAR THERE WILL NOT BE A THING ON THIS PLANET THAT WILL STOP ME FROM BURNING YOU TO LESS THAN A CINDER!"

The girls looked towards the sound of his voice as he yelled, "Shadow, is that you sugarcube?" Applejack asked. But Shadow didn't hear her, he was still caught up in the rush of anger he was in, only when an equally loud voice sounded out did he manage to focus "STAND DOWN SHADOW." Commander Fire Mane's voice rang out from behind the crowd which now parted to let him and Cinder Coat through.

"Or what?" Shadow asked menacingly, "You don't command me, in case you forgot.." "No, I don't, but neither do you posses authority here, at least not yet. So once more, STAND DOWN!" replied the Commander, he face still maintaining a stoic mask. Shadow looked around and saw he was scaring everyone in the small area they were in, the looks they have him allowed him to regain his senses. He let his mane die down and the fire in his eyes returned to their dull glow, both the replaced by fur and eyes as he shifted back into his disguise.

Commander Fire Mane nodded his head in approval before turning to the frightened group of Reds and telling them take off the bindings and blindfolds, to which they did readily and warily, constantly looking towards Shadow in case he suddenly changed again. Soon all six mares were standing up on their legs, though they were smarter than to, or to scared to, try and do anything.

Commander Fire Mane walked up slowly towards the them all and eyed them thoroughly. "Cinder Coat!" he yelled "Show them to any room we have available, but make sure it's big enough for all seven of them." "Yes, sir." said Cinder Coat, motioning for them to follow her.

"And one more thing," he continued, making the seven ponies look back at him "Welcome to the Nightmares.."

* * *

**Well, well, well, I wonder what fresh batch of anarchy and trouble this little mishap is going to cause. Stay tuned to find out! Goodbye!  
**

**Hey once more you lovely readers, first and foremost I'd like to apologize for how long this has taken me, I've had less and less time to work on this as of late due to school, family, etc.. Secondly I'd like to say Happy Holidays to you all, this will be my present to you (I actually finished this chapter a couple of days before I posted it and I wanted to proof read it so it made a wonderful holiday gift.) And lastly I regret to inform you this will be the last chapter for a while, as I'm putting this on hold for a break and to work on a story I've been dying to start. If your interested be on the lookout, I'm not sure when I'll get it out as life is a wonderful bowl strawberries and chaos. Happy Holidays!**


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